Raymond McCreesh Park Newry: 'Disgraceful' that 'IRA playground' persists seven years after Equality Commission U-turn
It is “disgraceful” that a playground named after an IRA gunman is still open almost seven years after the Equality Commission backed down from defending it in court, it is claimed.
That is the view of Colin Worton, who believes Raymond McCreesh murdered his brother in the 1976 Kingsmills massacre.
McCreesh Park in Newry has been at the centre of political rows and legal battles since it was named after IRA gunman McCreesh in 2001. He died on hunger strike in 1981.
In October 2018 the council identified the park as “surplus to requirements”.
This week Newry Mourne and Down District Council took a decision to put it up for purchase by government bodies and community groups for a second six month period, after no significant interest was shown in the first six months.
The Local Democracy Service reported that the chair of the policy and resources committee, councillor Tierna Howie (Alliance), said: “Then at the end of the six month period if there is no interest shown, to progress disposal of the asset through sale on the open market.”
McCreesh and two other IRA men were jailed after trying to attack soldiers at Belleeks in south Armagh in 1976.
All three men were carrying weapons used by the IRA in the nearby Kingsmills massacre of ten Protestant men, five months earlier.
One of those murdered at Kingsmills was Bessbrook man Kenneth Worton.
In 2016 his mother, great-grandmother Bea Worton, launched a judicial review against the Equality Commission and Newry Mourne and Down District Council, after the commission defended the council naming the park after McCreesh.
However the commission performed a U-turn in court and the High Court suspended Mrs Worton's legal action.
The High Court judged that the council would hold a review into wider play park usage and make a decision on the park’s name in April 2018. It said Mrs Worton could revive her case if not happy with the outcome.
However there was unionist anger when the final decision was made; the SDLP and Sinn Fein blocked a unionist motion to remove the name and opted to pass the park into community hands instead.
Almost seven years later the park still remains open and bearing the McCreesh name.
Bea Worton's son Colin - a brother of Kenneth - was incredulous that almost seven years after the judicial review, the park still remains open and named after McCreesh.
"It was not easy for my mother - a great-grand mother - to take this to court for a judicial review," he said. "She went to her grave in 2019 believing that the council was going to dispose of the land and McCreesh Park would be no more. And yet here we are years later and absolutely nothing has changed. It is just disgraceful."
He is convinced McCreesh was involved in the murder of his brother, having been arrested with one of the weapons used at Kingsmills. He believes IRA men normally keep to a familiar weapon to maximise their own personal protection.
DUP councillor Alan Lewis said: "The name of McCreesh should have been stripped from the area after the judicial review by Bea Worton and the sign removed and the park closed.
"Council's own assessment is that it has out of date equipment and should be closed - yet it is still open and accessible."
Newry Mourne and Down District Council was invited to comment.